Five tips to becoming inspired in less than 9.58 seconds!

How inspired are you out of 10 right now? Do you ask yourself and your team this question every day, week or month or even year?

You have a choice, to live life being inspired or uninspired, and being inspired requires thought and action – regularly. This blog aims to show you ways of becoming more inspired faster that Usain Bolt’s 100m world record.

One of my passions in life is to inspire others – friends, family, staff, partners, other entrepreneur’s starting out and even people I’ve just met. Seeing people be happy and achieve their potential is very satisfying.

Think for a moment about the people in your life who inspire you the most: Who comes to mind in under 9.58 seconds? Now think about those people who least inspire you: Who now comes to mind in under 9.58 seconds?

Step 1: Surround yourself with inspiring people

Invite those who inspire you the most out for lunch tomorrow. Hit them up.

Step 2: Limit your contact to uninspiring people

Stop talking to those who least inspire you or reduce contact immediately. Remove them from your life as much as possible.

Well done. You’re now on your way.

Revisit steps 1 and 2 at least every month. Put a note in your diary on monthly recurring. This way you constantly stay on top of things. Consider it your 19.16 seconds of homework each month.

I believe inspiration comes in many forms, which for me includes feeling good about myself. Who makes me feel good? Why do they make me feel good? Who do I enjoy hanging out with?

Knowing that I am doing what I want to be doing makes me feel inspired; knowing that I am working towards things I want to achieve – business or personal – means I am fulfilling my potential.

Working on my golf game, looking forward to my next lesson to get my handicap to single figures in a year makes me feel inspired. Knowing I am eating well and exercising well makes me feel inspired.

Hearing a great speaker inspires me, knowing that I am learning and moving forward. Working on projects which have great potential and utilise my skills makes me feel good.

Why be inspired? Being inspired leads to a positive feeling and a positive feeling is engrained in every communication and action you do and have throughout the day with everyone you come in contact with. It infiltrates everything. Successful people are inspired every day. They get out of bed with energy, enthusiasm, passion and excitement. If they don’t feel that way occasionally, then they are at least aware and make a tweak here or there or major change to get back on track immediately.

Step 3: What are the things you love doing in life? (What comes to mind in under 9.58 seconds?)

Action item: Plan now to do them more regularly.

Step 4: Who makes you feel good?

Action item: Call them today. Plan to see them.

Repeat steps 3 and 4 every month. Train your brain to consciously think about steps 3 and 4 regularly until it becomes habit.

If I looked inside any business, the first question I would ask the employees would be: How inspired do you feel coming to work every day out of 10, and show me your ratings each month for the past 12 months? Inspiration comes from the leader, not from the employee. If the scores are low, the leader could be terrible or the employee could be in the wrong role or not suitable for the job or company.

I would also ask the owner/entrepreneur/CEO the same question. How inspired are they to come to work and run their business every day? I think you’ll find a strong correlation between inspired leaders and inspired staff.

There’s a shortage of both inspired leaders and inspirational leaders. I don’t believe you can be one without the other. If I am investing in a business, I am looking for an inspired leader who inspires others.

What this means is that it’s the leader’s responsibility to inspire staff on a personal level as well as professional level. Being inspired comes from so many areas of life, and many leaders fail to touch their team where it matters most – on a personal level.

The staff in one of my businesses have been eating and exercising better than ever before in their lives and they look and feel fantastic, which I am so proud of. I believe this is a reflection of the efforts I have achieved personally having shared my goals around health and fitness.

On a professional level, many people are uninspired at work. Here’s what you do:

Step 5: Look at all of the tasks you do during your day/week/month

List down the following: What are you good at? What are you not good at? What do you dislike doing? What do you like doing?

I’ll give you 9.58 seconds on each of those questions. Key things will immediately come to mind.

Action item: All the things you aren’t good at and don’t like doing – do something about it whether that is to outsource it or ask to restructure your role. The benefits to everyone are huge. Create the role you love. If nothing changes at all then you need to be honest with yourself and ask yourself whether you want to be doing this role for the next five years.

It sounds so simple and it is. I ask myself these questions regularly and make sure I focus my time and energy on things I am good at and love doing.

So when do you plan to take action and follow through on the five steps above if you haven’t already?

It’s amazing how much you can achieve during the time it takes Usain Bolt to run 100 metres. If you felt inspired by this post, please share it!

Since 2010 StartupSmart has been Australia’s no.1 publication for the startup community and those interested in the startup movement globally. Publishing news, information and advice daily, and placing itself squarely at the centre of the government’s national innovation agenda, StartupSmart is a leading participant in the momentum that surrounds the world’s focus on technology, creativity and entrepreneurialism.